Cotton Capital

Latest Episodes:

Bonus episode: Searching for the spirit of Pan-Africanism Oct 31, 2025

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In this bonus episode, the Guardian journalist Chris Osuh explores whether we are living through a Pan-African moment 80 years on from Manchester’s groundbreaking 1945 Pan-African Congress ‘A sense of freedom’: 80 years on from the Pan-African Congress in Manchester

Episode 6: Reparations May 08, 2023

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In the final episode of the series, Cotton Capital editor and Guardian journalist Maya Wolfe-Robinson looks at the subject of reparations. What do reparations mean for the communities and descendants of transatlantic enslavement – and what is the Guardian planning to do in its own programme of measures?

Episode 5: Resistance May 01, 2023

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Guardian journalist and Cotton Capital special correspondent Lanre Bakare examines Black Mancunian history, beginning with the 1945 Pan-African Congress that took place in the city and shaped independence movements across Africa

Episode 4: The Brazilian connection Apr 24, 2023

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During the transatlantic slave trade, more enslaved African people were taken to Brazil than any other country. Today, more than half of Brazil’s population identify as Black and there are more Black people in Brazil than any other country except Nigeria. But the country is still grappling with deep structural racism

Episode three: The Sea Islands Apr 17, 2023

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Journalist DeNeen L Brown travels to the Sea Islands in the US and meets the Gullah Geechee people – direct descendants of enslaved Africans who picked the distinctive Sea Island cotton prized by traders in Manchester

Episode 2: The meaning of Success Apr 10, 2023

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Our second episode follows journalist Maya Wolfe-Robinson as she travels to Jamaica in search of the site of the former sugar plantation Success, once co-owned by the Guardian funder Sir George Philips

Episode 1: The bee and the ship Apr 03, 2023

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The first episode of the new Guardian podcast series Cotton Capital explores the revelations that the Guardian’s founding editor, John Edward Taylor, and at least nine of his 11 backers, had links to slavery, principally through the textile industry

Coming soon: Cotton Capital – a new podcast from the Guardian Mar 28, 2023

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This new six-part series explores how transatlantic slavery shaped the Guardian, Manchester, Britain and the world. Stemming from an investigation into the Guardian founders’ own links to slavery, this ongoing series explores that history and its enduring legacies today. Search ‘Cotton Capital’ wherever you get your podcasts

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